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Choujin Sentai Jetman
, was the 15th entry of Super Sentai series. It was produced by Toei and Bandai. It aired on TV Asahi at 5:00 PM every Friday from February 15, 1991 to February 14, 1992, with a total of 51 episodes. Known for experimenting with the Sentai formula by adding drama and conflict between both the protagonists and the villains, it is regarded by many fans to be one of the best seasons of the Super Sentai series. It is a homage to Kagaku Ninjatai Gatchaman. It was the last Super Sentai series not to be dubbed. It was also the last Super Sentai series not to be adapted as a series of Power Rangers, though it was planned. This is followed by Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger and Tokumei Sentai Go-Busters, whose adaptations have yet to be confirmed. Plot This series takes place in 1991 on the Earth Ship, the command center of an international defence agency called Sky Force, the guardian of peace on Earth. In the ship, scientists have developed "Birdonic Waves", a newly developed technology which gives the subject superhuman abilities. Experiments called "J-Project" were successful. Aya Odagiri, the director of the project, chose five elite Sky Force officials from Earth to use this technology. Ryu Tendoh, one of the Sky Force officers, was successfully exposed to the Birdonic waves, making him the first Jetman, the Red Hawk. However, the Earth Ship is suddenly attacked by Vyram, an evil outer-dimensional organization bent on inter-dimensional domination. They successfully destroy the ship, seemingly killing Ryu's lover and fellow candidate member Rie, in the chaos, and the remaining Birdonic waves that was meant for the other four officials become scattered on Earth, hitting four civilians instead. Odagiri and Tendou successfully escape and begin searching on Earth for the four remaining Jetman, training them to aid them in stopping Vyram's plans of conquering our dimension. Development Predicting that the Super Sentai series might fade into "a long-term rut" after the poor performance of 1990's Fiveman, Keita Amemiya was chosen to be the producer of the 1991 Sentai series, with Takeyuki Suzuki as director. For the motif, they chose to base the series on Kagaku Ninjatai Gatchaman, which was a bird-themed five member team that had rivalries between it's members. During auditions the show went by the name of "Supermen Sentai Birdman" (超人戦隊バードマン | Superman Squadron Badoman), and shopped around to actors as a "live-action version of Gatchaman", among them Toshihide Wakamatsu, who would go on to play Yuki Gai/Black Condor. Bringing in elements from various different shows and dramas of the time, Jetman added and improved upon many parts to the Sentai formula that later seasons would use. Features 'Backstory -' The Ranger's powers come from "Birdonic Waves" created by "Sky Force", the members of the team were given the powers accidentally, two of which do not appear in the first episode. Having the team be incomplete in the first episode was a first for the Sentai series. 'Writing -' Before Jetman, members were for the most part referred to by their color. Kotaro Tanaka and Toshihide Wakamatsu said to the cast that "this was unnatural", and paved the way for Jetman and shows afterwards to have characters refer to each other by their names instead of their colors. The writer also proposed to have episodes without the characters transforming and fighting, but it was met by opposition from Bandai until the later in the show. '"Trendy drama conflicts" -' Takeyuki Suzuki came up with the idea for having a love triangle for Jetman when watching Tosho Daimos, and wanted to capture it's "high romance". The tension and comedy of the love triangles of the show was influential in it's popularity, and became a defining part of the show. Gokaiger playfully mocked this in their ending theme by describing the series as "trendy". 'Internal strife inside the enemy faction -' Not only were the Vyram fighting against the Jetman, they were also fighting each other. Storylines involving conflicts between the villains became fixtures in Jetman and future seasons. Reception Due to the changes to the show as mentioned above, the result was in a wider age group than ever before. The show's ratings increased over the previous year, with Jetman getting an average of 7.1% compared to Fiveman's paltry 6.5%. Although the show received some criticism for adding "romance drama to a children's show", characters like Yuki Gai became a big hit with mothers; who sent clemency pleas to TV Asahi so that they did not kill him off. Even today, many fans cite it as a masterpiece among the Super Sentai series, with it topping the #1 popular vote for Bandai's B-ClUB magazine and Toei's "Super Sentai Request Tournament" In the end, total revenue from the series greatly exceeded over 15 billion yen. Characters Jetmen Allies * Commander Aya Odagiri * Back Dimension Dimensian Warriors ** Ray ** Kanna ** Dan * Lou and Duran * Neo Jetman ** J1 ** J2 ** J3 ** J4 ** J5 Dimensional War Party Vyram * Back Dimensional Count Radiguet/Radigan/Raguem * Tran/Emperor Tranza * Rie Aoi/Maria * Grey * Empress Juuza * Grinam Soldiers * (Bio) Dimensional Beasts Arsenal * Cross Changer * Corresponder * Jet Hand Cannon ** Bird Blasters ** Bringer Swords * Smash Bomber ** Bird Blaster ** Beak Smasher * Wing Gauntlet * Jet Striker / Fire Bazooka * Jet Bouncer * Jet Speeders Jet Machines * Hyper Haken / Great Icarus ** Icarus Haken / Jet Icarus *** Jet Hawk *** Jet Swan *** Jet Swallow *** Jet Owl *** Jet Condor or Jet Eagle ** Bird Garuda / Jet Garuda * Tetraboy / Tetrabuster Episodes Cast * Ryu Tendoh - * Gai Yuki - * Raita Ooishi - * Kaori Rokumeikan - * Ako Hayasaka - * Commander Aya Odagiri - * Jiiya - * Rie Aoi/Maria - * Count Radiguet - * Tran - ** Emperor Tranza - * Gray - * Narrator - Guest Stars * Kyotaro Tatsumi - * Bus Passenger - * Juuza - * Kaori Rokumekan (child) - * Michiru - * Ray - * Kanna - * Dan - * Scientist - * Akira - * Supreme Commander Akira Ichijo - * J1/Neo Jetman 1 - * J2/Neo Jetman 2 - * J3/Neo Jetman 3 - * J4/Neo Jetman 4 - * J5/Neo Jetman 5 - Suit actors * Red Hawk - Kazuo Niibori and Hiroshi Maeda * Black Condor - Naoki Ōfuji * Yellow Owl, Jet Garuda - Hirofumi Ishigaki and Tomihisa Naruse * White Swan - Yūichi Hachisuka and Masato Akada * Blue Swallow - Shōji Hachisuka * Tetra Boy - Yasuhiro Takeuchi * Jet Icarus, Jet Garuda, Great Icarus - Hideaki Kusaka * Dimensional Beasts - Takeshi Miyazaki Trivia *This is the first Sentai series to have a Third Robo, Tetraboy. *''Jetman'' introduces the format of the first five Rangers being, Red, Blue, Yellow, Black, and White, followed by Kakuranger, Gaoranger and Abaranger. *This is the first three-male/two female team to switch genders between the Blue and Yellow Rangers (the male wears yellow while the female wears blue) followed by Magiranger. **Note that Liveman and Hurricaneger, despite featuring female Blue Rangers, cannot be counted as both of their respective Blue Rangers were the only females of their respective teams. *This the first three male/two female team to not feature a Pink Ranger, though White Swan featured pink accents, much like her eventual successor GaoWhite. *Like its respective 1981 and 1984 predecessors Sun Vulcan and Bioman, Jetman was also chosen to be the first series to be adapted as a Power Rangers series, but ultimately not adapted. The first adaptation to a Power Rangers series would later go to its immediate successor, Zyuranger. *A game based on Jetman was released for the Nintendo Famicom. *This is the first season in a while where the transformation call is not any of the Sentai Heroes' respective designations (instead, their transformation device's name), a trend that took much of the early years of the Sentai Series. *This is the last Sentai team where a member of the core team dies and remains that way. After this season, all permanent deaths have only occured with Sixth or Extra Heroes. Category:Sentai Season Category:Earth Technology *